Jon Collins-Black Interview Highlights! JCB was quiet over the winter, so it was great to see him active again! He was interviewed by Ema and Jam of the Treasure Hunt With Us YouTube channel.
Below is a list of highlights from that interview – You can watch the full video here. There are a few good nuggets in here!
General Highlights on the Treasure Hunt
- Jon Collins-Black (JCB) said, ‘Do not rule out National Forests or National Parks’
- JCB took separate trips to hide each of the treasure boxes – for a total of over 5 different trips (he had to go more than once to some locations)
- He said he created the images in the book with the help of AI and other programs. He didn’t want to navigate working with illustrators because of clues
- When asked about the commemorative coins – JCB said anything in the book could be used as clues
- When asked if he could share ‘how far off a trail is a box hidden’, JCB said he didn’t want them accidentally found and depending on the trail that could be close but maybe not. He wouldn’t specify a distance.
- JCB said the smaller box chapters are ‘pretty self-contained’. Everything you need to know to find those boxes are in those chapters.
Highlights on Specific Treasure Boxes
- Forrest Fenn Box – when asked about the first clue in his poem for the FF Box- JCB said Cool water’s halt would be similar to Forrest’s ‘Where Warm Waters Halt’ – but based on his own experiences of trying to solve Forrest’s poem. The poem is linear.
- Pokémon Box – when asked about driving past the Ozarks – JCB advised not getting fixated on literal meaning of that – and that he hid the box somewhere along that trip – and stuck to major highways.
- Past and Future Box – when asked about how searchers are diving deep into the word search, JCB mentioned there is more in the chapter than just that – and he feels searchers are smarter than he (suggesting the deep dives are not needed)
- Lion’s Share Box – JCB said ‘Joy’s Serenade pretty important’
- Appalachian Footpath Box wasn’t commented on
My Thoughts on Jon Collins-Black Interview Highlights
There were a lot of different takeaways from the interview. Over the coming weeks I’ll share thoughts on some of these – leading to additional thoughts and insights – and link to them from MW’s Home Page on TTI.
Treasure the Adventures!